


'til all my sleeves are stained red

by stillsmall



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-20
Updated: 2013-11-20
Packaged: 2018-01-02 03:03:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1051757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillsmall/pseuds/stillsmall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Christmas Eve, and Mindy's cycle is a little rougher than usual. Everyone is out of town, including Danny. Or so she thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	'til all my sleeves are stained red

Christmas in New York City is just about as iconic as it comes. Carriage rides. Macy's. Fearsome blizzards terrorizing citizens and clearing up just before the children wake.

Mindy loves the idea of Christmas. But for the last ten years, Christmas Eve has been a nightmare.

She's decided that Mother Nature is sending a message, because if romantic comedies have taught her anything, it's that all things happen for a reason. So, fate be damned, there has to be a logical explanation as to why each year, jolly Saint Nick strikes her with stabbing abdominal pain, polarizing mood swings, and cravings that would disgust a pregnant woman.

(Her most shameful concoction involved toothpaste. (She doesn't want to talk about it.))

In the meantime, Mindy has spent the last couple of days preparing. Phone on silent. Lights dimmed. Little cornucopias stationed throughout her apartment so that she will never be more than ten feet from heating pads, Ibuprofen, and a chocolate bar. All that's left to do is wait.

She's watching claymation Rudolf guide Santa's sleigh when it hits. The cartoon's plunking and plinking music starts to grate on her nerves. The star reindeer, suddenly a more valuable asset than Santa's entire fleet, smiles a little too smugly for her taste. What almost feels like the beginnings of gas settles in her gut.

Mindy is across the room and clutching a bottle of pain pills before Rudolf's hooves touch land.

***

Danny likes Christmas. Really, he does.

So he's stranded in the city all alone. Big deal. He's single, financially stable, and healthy. The world is his oyster. He could feed the homeless, or buy every poor kid a candy cane, or take a carriage ride alone. Would be nice not to hear all that chatter, just enjoy the atmosphere of the quiet winter.

He's two beers in when he gets the text.

**hows the fam? have u broken the news of our illegitimate son yet?**

He chuckles.

_no. thought it would go better face-to-face. im stuck in the city._

**alone on christmas? how v Danny**

_isnt this your thing? forcing your irritating extraverted friendliness on anyone who will listen unless its dec. 25th, then you close up shop?_

**i have a med condition, u insensitive jerk.**

_you wont even accept PCOS as a diagnosis!_

**its not PCOS! im just not built 4 christmas**

_that makes no sense. im coming over._

**ONLY IF U SEEK A SWIFT & PREMATURE DEATH!!**

***

"Open up, Min!"

"If you pound that door _one more time,_ I will _never_  let you into this apartment again," Mindy hisses from the other side of the wall.

Danny sighs. "I have a key, Mindy, I'm not going anywhere."

Mindy hates it when he says her name like that.  _Mindy_. All gentle. Ugh. There isn't much she can do about it now, though. He's already inside. The bathroom was her last line of defense, the only line he will not cross.

"C'mon. I know how to handle you, alright? I can help make this easier."

His intimate knowledge of her emotional life combined with the nature of his profession has her hesitating.

Still. It's the principle of the thing.

"I feel awful and you are making it  _so_ much worse right now," she whines, clawing feebly at the door.

"Open the door. Come on. I'll give you a foot rub?"

A blur of movement, and Danny and Mindy are face-to-face. He gives her a knowing look. She gives him one right back before stomping past him and collapsing onto the couch.

 

 


End file.
